5 of 7 Regions Reported Sales Growth of Approximately 20 Percent
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported a 19.5 percent sales increase from distributor members in December in its monthly TRENDS report. Five of the seven reporting regions reported sales growth of approximately 20 percent, a substantial gain over December 2012, which registered at -1.8 percent.
“The month-to-month performance can be volatile. The strong growth report for December reflects a couple factors,” said Brian Loftus, market research and benchmarking analyst, HARDI. “This year had one extra billing day than the prior year, and we had an extremely cold period that stretched across much of the country this season. December 2012 sales were quite weak across the majority of the country.”
The annualized growth rate is a better measure of overall industry trends. That growth rate has been in the 5-6 percent range for most of 2013.